Pedal attachment.



No. 636,968. Patented Nov. l4, I899. W. E. ESPERSON.

PEDAL ATTACHMENT.

A iimio filed m 11, ma

(in Model.)

W iinesaemjnvemzbn 24%... 1% a v y.

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM E. ESPERSON, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

PEDAL ATTACHM ENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 636,968, dated November 14;, 1899.

Application filed July 11, 1899. Serial No. 723,437. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. ESPERSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Brooklyn, in the city and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Pedal Attachments, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in pedal attachments, and has for its object to provide a foot-guide which is adapted to be attached to pedals having toe-clips secured thereto for use in guiding the foot of the rider rapidly and accurately into engagement with the toe-clip even when the toe-clip is hanging down inits natural position,when the pedal is not engaged by the foot.

A further object of my invention is to provide an attachment of the above character which will only increase the Weight of the pedal a very slight degree, which attachment does not serve in any degree as a counterbalance for the toe-clip, but merely as a guide for the foot.

I t. "Mn... H

A practical embodiment of my invention is represented in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents an end View of a pedal provided with a toe-clip and with my improved foot-guide attached thereto, the parts being shown in the positions which they would assume when the pedal is disengaged from the foot, a portion of a shoe being represented in broken lines in the position which it would assume when it first engages the guide for positively swinging the toe-clip upwardly in position to be engaged therewith. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the parts in the positions which they assume when the shoe is engaged with the pedal and toe-clip. Fig. 3 is a vertical central section from front to rear through the several parts. Fig. 4 is a top plan View of the same, and Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the foot-guide.

-The pedal as a whole is denoted by A, and the crank, to which it is attached in the usual manner, by B. The front plate of the pedal is denoted by a, the rear plate by a, and the outer end plate by a. A toe-clip O of any well-known form is attached to the front plate a of the pedal-in the present instance by the usual screw-bolt c.

The foot-guide is denoted by D, and it may be made of any suitable material and of various forms. The front end of the foot-guide foot-guide as secured to the back plate by means of a screw-bolt d,which passes through the back plate a and the downwardly-ex tended arm d. The rear end of the foot-guide D is curved downwardly, as shown at (1 so as to present a smooth surface to the shoe when thetoe-clip is hanging downwardly to insure the ready tilting of the pedal by the shoe when the guide is engaged thereby.

The foot-guide extends only a short dis tance rearwardly from the back plate of the pedal and does not serve in any way as a sup port for the foot, nor does it serve to limit the forward sliding movement of the foot, the purpose in providing the attachment being merely to provide a device which may be quickly and readily engaged by the foot of the rider to bring the toe-clip up into position to permit the foot to be slid forwardly into engagement therewith.

It is evident that slight changes might be resorted to in the form and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. Hence I do not wish to limit myself strictly to the structure herein shown and described; but

7 What I claim is- The combination with a pedal and a toeclip secured thereto, of a separate foot-guide comprising a plate having a downwardly= bent forward end fitted to be secured to the back plate of the pedal, a substantially fiat middle portion extended rearwardly from the pedal and a downwardly-curved rear end whereby a smooth surface is presented to the foot to permit it to slide readily into engage ment with the pedal and toe-clip after the foot has engaged the said foot-guide, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name, in presence of two witnesses, this 10th day of July,

WILLIAM E. ESPERSON. Witnesses:

FREDK. HAYNES, EDWARD VIEsEE. 

